George L. Harrison
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George Leslie Harrison (January 26, 1887 – March 5, 1958) was an American banker, insurance executive and advisor to Secretary of War
Henry L. Stimson Henry Lewis Stimson (September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) was an American statesman, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. Over his long career, he emerged as a leading figure in U.S. foreign policy by serving in both Republican and D ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.


Early life and education

Harrison was born in
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
on January 26, 1887. In 1909, at Yale, he was elected to the
Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...
secret society. He was graduated from
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
in 1910 and Harvard Law School in 1913.


Career

After earning his law degree, Harrison became law clerk for one year to
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. After serving as general counsel to the
Federal Reserve Board The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the m ...
, Harrison served as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for 13 years starting in 1928. He left in 1941 to become president of
New York Life Insurance Company New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company in the United States, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and is ranked #67 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States ...
. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Harrison was War Secretary
Henry L. Stimson Henry Lewis Stimson (September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) was an American statesman, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. Over his long career, he emerged as a leading figure in U.S. foreign policy by serving in both Republican and D ...
's special assistant for matters relating to the development of the atomic bomb. One of Harrison's notable moments was when he informed Secretary Stimson of the success detonation of the atomic bomb testing in New Mexico. Specifically, he wrote that
“Doctor has just returned most enthusiastic and confident that the little boy is as husky as his big brother. The light in his eyes discernible from here to high hold and I could have heard his screams from here to my farm.”https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/35.pdf
The meaning of this quote is that the "
Little Boy "Little Boy" was the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II, making it the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''Enola Gay'' p ...
" atomic bomb (made of
Uranium-235 Uranium-235 (235U or U-235) is an isotope of uranium making up about 0.72% of natural uranium. Unlike the predominant isotope uranium-238, it is fissile, i.e., it can sustain a nuclear chain reaction. It is the only fissile isotope that exi ...
) was as successful as the "
Fat Man "Fat Man" (also known as Mark III) is the codename for the type of nuclear bomb the United States detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the fir ...
" bomb (made of plutonium). The light from here to high hold refers how the detonation was visible from "here" in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
to Stimson's Highhold estate nearly 250 miles away on Long Island. The bomb was so loud that Harrison could hear the detonation from "here" in Washington, D.C. to his farm on Upperville, VA nearly 50 miles away. After the successful development of the atomic bomb, he served with Stimson on the eight-member Interim Committee which examined problems expected to result from the bomb's creation and which recommended direct military use of the bomb against Japan without specific warning. Harrison chaired the committee when Stimson was absent. Harrison returned to his position at New York Life after the war, becoming chairman of the company's board in 1948.


Personal life

Harrison married the widow of Rear Admiral Cary T. Grayson, who was the former Alice Gertrude Gordon. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage in New York City in 1958 and is buried in
Rock Creek Cemetery Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. It is across the stre ...
in
Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
.


See also

*
List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 2) Law clerks have assisted the justices of the United States Supreme Court in various capacities since the first one was hired by Justice Horace Gray in 1882. Each justice is permitted to have between three and four law clerks per Court term. Mo ...


References


External links


Harrison's Biography at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, George L. 1887 births 1958 deaths Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery Businesspeople from San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank of New York presidents Harvard Law School alumni Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States New York Life Insurance Company Skull and Bones Society Yale University alumni 20th-century American businesspeople